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commodity, one that outsiders want to analyse and eventu enormous billboard advertising Amy’s breakout Hollywood
DOO\ DSSURSULDWH 'HVSLWH WKH SHUYHUVH GLHJHWLF ZRUOG RI EODQN performance in 3GD !DKK )@Q dwarfs the surroundings.
FRUULGRUV ORFNHG GRRUV DQG GXELRXV VFLHQWLĺF PHWKRGROR $V $P\pV IDFH VWDUHV EDFN DW 3ROO\ /DFDQpV PLUURU FRPHV
gies, and the suffering that we watch Maude undergo, it is VKDUSO\ LQWR YLHZ ,Q WKLV VFHQH ZH JOLPSVH WKH HJRpV UH
the possibility of her psychical connection with Cleo that most OHQWOHVV VHDUFK IRU FRPSOHWLRQ DV 3ROO\ ĺUVW XQFRQVFLRXVO\
effectively elicits our sympathies, generating both allure and recognises herself, then apprehend her envy regarding
revulsion, emotion and intellectual engagement. a celebrity status that she desires, but which has been
1@AAHS’s denouement – which proffers more questions than claimed by another.
GHĺQLWLYH H[SODQDWLRQV t ZLOO QRW SOHDVH HYHU\ERG\ EXW LW LV Here, the notion of doubling encapsulated by identical
consistent with the register of uncertainty that twins bring to twins invokes the Freudian notion of the uncanny, ‘that spe
the darker edges of genre cinema. cies of the frightening that goes back to what was once well
7
known and had long been familiar’. There is an immediate
Likeness and levity: That’s Not Me VXSHUĺFLDO WHQVLRQ WR WKH DSSHDUDQFH RI LGHQWLFDO WZLQV DW
once appealing and somewhat perverse. When Polly starts
7KH SUR[LPLW\ RI SV\FKRORJLFDO GLVFRPIRUW WR ODXJKWHU LV H[ LPSHUVRQDWLQJ KHU IDPRXV VLVWHU WKDW WHQVLRQ LV PDJQLĺHG
SORUHG LQ FRPHG\ ĺOP 3G@S R -NS ,D *UHJRU\ (UGVWHLQ What starts out as amusing is eventually undercut by Polly’s
which follows Polly (Alice Foulcher) on her quest to become VHOĺVKQHVV DQG GLVUHJDUG IRU $P\pV ZHOOEHLQJ 7KH FRPHG\
a famous actor. Unfortunately for Polly, her identical twin, veers into troubling territory, the trope of the twin enabling
Amy (Foulcher, again), has made it big in Hollywood and has WKH YDULDQFH WKDW 1HDOH VXJJHVWV LV NH\ WR JHQUH ĺOPPDNLQJ
VWDUWHG GDWLQJ FR VWDU -DUHG /HWR -RUGDQ 3URVVHU 3ROO\ LV
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agent even decides to drop her because she’s ‘too confus
ing’ for casting personnel. 5HJDUGOHVV RI WKHLU UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ WKHUH LV D FRPPRQ XQ
7KH ĺOPpV WLWOH LV SUHGLFDWHG RQ D canny sensibility that identical twins bring
misapprehension: the sentence ‘That’s While identical twins to the screen. Whether in a horror, thriller
not me!’ signals the anxiety that sur or comedy, these cinematic twins lead us
rounds being mistaken for somebody are utilised as a trope EDFN WR RXU RZQ XQFRQVFLRXV DQ[LHWLHV
else. It speaks to the terror of being in a range of genres, DQG GHVLUHV 3HUKDSV WKH UHDO WHUURU RU
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replaceable RU LQVXIĺFLHQWO\ XQLTXH WR they are particularly hilarity ultimately lies in the distant trace
be recognised. It conjures the ego at its RI WKDW ĺUVW oPHHWLQJp ZLWK RXUVHOYHV t WKH
battlements, demanding recognition. In resonant in works of one that set restlessness and dissatisfac
light of these concerns, it’s no wonder horror, in which their tion in motion forevermore.
that narcissism is a recurring concern physical doubling
LQ (UGVWHLQpV ĺOP :KHQ SUHVVHG 3ROO\ Gabrielle O’Brien is a freelance writer and
can’t really say why she wants to act. is used to heighten SD@BGDQ 2GD G@R @M , HM kKL RSTCHDR
We’re made to assume that it’s because tension and magnify a @MC HR @ QDFTK@Q BNMSQHATSNQ SN Metro.An
she doesn’t want her twin to be more climate of uncertainty. unrepentant cinephile, she likes it best
successful than she is, and that she HMŭSGDŭC@QJŪ m
hasn’t mapped out her own trajectory
beyond competing with her sister. Endnotes
But 3G@S R -NS ,D goes further, magnifying the reach of 1 )RU D GHWDLOHG H[SODQDWLRQ RI /DFDQpV PLUURU VWDJH VHH $GULDQ
/DFDQpV QRWLRQ RI WKH PLUURU VWDJH WR UHĻHFW RQ WKH FXOW RI -RKQVWRQ o7KH 0LUURU 6WDJH WKH (JR DQG WKH 6XEMHFWp LQ
celebrity that has pervaded popular screen culture. Polly’s o-DFTXHV /DFDQp Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2013,
REVHVVLRQ ZLWK IDPH IRU IDPHpV VDNH UHFDOOV WKH HQGOHVV SUR KWWSV SODWR VWDQIRUG HGX HQWULHV ODFDQ 0LU6WD(JR6XE>,
cession of YouTube celebrities and reality TV personalities DFFHVVHG 1RYHPEHU
that are trotted out each year. Here, the specular is collapsed 2 -DFTXHV /DFDQ Écrits: The First Complete Edition in English,
with the narcissistic idealisation of a self that is mediated by WUDQV %UXFH )LQN : : 1RUWRQ &RPSDQ\ 1HZ <RUN
technology, invoking cultural anxieties about the democrati /RQGRQ > @ S HPSKDVLV LQ RULJLQDO
sation of the visual image: if anyone can transmit themselves 3 $QQH %LOOVRQ o&UDVK DQG 6TXLUPp The Guardian 2FWREHU
onto a screen, who polices what is rejected and what is KWWSV ZZZ WKHJXDUGLDQ FRP ŷOP RFW
YLHZHG" 7KH GXDOLW\ VXJJHVWHG E\ WKH VWDWH RI WZLQ QHVV horror! DFFHVVHG 1RYHPEHU
means that Polly embodies both sides of this tension: the 4 *HRII .LQJ Film Comedy :DOOŸRZHU 3UHVV /RQGRQ S
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RI FXOWXUH 7KLV G\QDPLF UHVRQDWHV DV 3ROO\ ZDWFKHV $P\ 0LOOHU HGV Film and Theory: An Anthology %ODFNZHOO 0DOGHQ
SOD\ D VRDS RSHUD UROH WKDW VKH SUHYLRXVO\ WXUQHG GRZQ $IWHU 0$ S
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with albinism is respectful and captivating, Polly is incensed & Shane $OH[ :HLQUHVV LQ ZKLFK D VLQJOH SDUHQW XUJHV
t QRW MXVW E\ WKHLU DIĺUPDWLRQ RI KHU VLVWHUpV DFWLQJ WDOHQWV RWKHU SDUHQWV RI WZLQV WR oFKRRVH D IDYRXULWHp /XUNLQJ EHORZ
but also, perhaps even more so, by the sneaking validation WKH KXPRXU LV WKH JHQXLQHO\ VXEYHUVLYH LGHD WKDW WZLQV UHS-
afforded by the ‘low’ artform that is the soap opera. UHVHQW D VXUSOXV RU H[FHVV WKDW LV GLIŷFXOW WR LQWHJUDWH LQWR WKH
There are several amusing scenes in which Polly visually social fabric.
apprehends her ideal ego via screens, billboards, posters 6LJPXQG )UHXG The Uncanny WUDQV 'DYLG 0F/LQWRFN 3HQJXLQ
and even childhood photographs. As she waits for a train, an /RQGRQ > @ S }

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